Chapter III: Battling the darkness
Ever since his island was destroyed, Sora had seen a lot of strange things, things like creatures that seemed to be out of a science fiction film, monsters called Heartless that could have come out of one of his video games, but the strangest and most mysterious thing he'd seen so far was the thing in front of him on the table.
"Is this supposed to be food?" The thing in front of him was on a plate, it did have a fork and knife next to it, but other than that he didn't see how it could be food. The thing on the plate was a mixture of purple and green, slimy yet hard as a roc, and he's pretty sure it just moved.
"Doesn't it look delicious? I got the recipe out of one of those books some TV-cook wrote" Pleakly, the man who cooked the thing said in self-satisfaction, Pleakley was tall and built like a pencil, had three legs, a head that was somewhat egg-shaped with one eye, one antenna and two tongues and his whole body was pale yellow. He was a nice guy, just a little-Okay, really weird, and for some reason he thought he was an expert of Earth, yet he thought mosquitoes were endangered, yeah right, they were a pest even were Sora lived.
"I have tasted better mud and made failed experiments that look more appetizing" Jumba said as he threw his food in the garbage (which was modified so it dissolved whatever you threw in it) while Stitch threw his and Lilo's portions out of the window while Pleakley was busy biting Jumba's head off because of his comment.
"You're just a big baby. It's delicious" Pleakley too a bite out of the food he cooked, before passing out with an expression that was a mixture of disgust and pain.
"Does this happen a lot?" Sora asked as his food escaped out of the window, and he was quite sure it gurgled out `I'm free´.
In the end, they went down to a small restaurant which was owned by one of Stitch's `Cousins´. The food was delicious n Sora's opinion and looked more appetizing (and safer) than what Pleakley had made. Speak of the devil, there he was, green in the face and walking with the graze of a drunken hippo on a unicycle.
"Need. Hospital. NOW" He got out before he passed out, fortunately for him, some tourist saw him and called the hospital. Sora thought about helping him, but then he accidentally overheard a few kids saying something about a washed up whale.
"Should we go and help it? I mean Stitch could probably swim with-"
"NO!" Stitch screamed out of fear before he climbed up the nearest palm tree, Sora gave Lilo and Jumba a confused look.
"Stitch can't swim. But I'm sure we could help somehow" Lilo said as she got Stitch out of the tree and Jumba rambling on about his `Portable tractor beam´ that he wanted to try out.
They arrived at the beach and were greeted by a crowd of people gathered around something they couldn't see. They tried to look through, under and above the crowd, but it was just too many people. As they tried to figure out how they would get through, a grunt was heard and the people started running, fearing the worst, Sora took out his keyblade and got in battle position, when the crowd had dispersed, he could see a thing that looked like a whale on two legs rubbing its head as if it had a headache.
'At least it's not a Heartless' But he couldn't take any risks, so he had the keyblade left out for safety.
"What happened?" The thing asked seemingly to itself as it opened its eyes.
"Gantu?" Stitch said in confusion as Gantu looked over at their direction.
"626, Earth-girl, what are you- the ship, Hämsterviel. I gotta go" well he seemed to be in a hurry.
"What's wrong? What is it about Hämsterviel?" Lilo asked, and judging by her voice, Sora figured this Hämsterviel was a dangerous person.
"He's escaped, and he took this weird creatures with him. I don't know what they are, but they're dangerous" Gantu said before he took off. Judging by the description, whatever Hämsterviel had gotten his hands on must be dangerous, and Sora had a sinking feeling in his gut about what they were, without a second thought, he took of after Gantu.
"Sora, wait" Lilo shouted as she followed after him with Stitch and Jumba tailing after.
'I fear the worst' Jumba thought as he ran after them for the best he could.
For being such a large creature, Gantu could really run, Sora had to put as much as he could only to be able to keep up with him. His run had to be interrupted as a pair Heartless appeared out of a flash of darkness. The keyblade appeared in Sora's hand as he looked over the creatures. They were Heartless no doubt, but different from the one he'd met so far, they were about as tall as those Knight things, maybe a head taller, but they were dressed in black grass skirts, purple skin, a pair of black grass braces on their wrists and ankles, three claws on their foots and hands and a mask that resembled a purple tiki masks with a mark on their forehead. The mark looked like a black heart with its end split in three and red thorns going through it.
Sora didn't waste any time as he swung the keyblade at one of them, only for it to dodge to the side and punch him in the gut punching the air out of him, as Sora was sent back a few steps because of the punch, the other Heartless wasted no time as it took out a staff out of nowhere and hit Sora with it sending him into a tree. As he got up, the one without a staff began running against him, and out of pure reflex Sora stretched out his arm, palm facing the Heartless, and sent out a weaker charge of the black and red flame against the Heartless. He succeeded, but it only managed to send it skidding a few feet. The one with the staff paid no mind to its companion as it charged Sora, staff raised above its head. It made a downward swing with its staff that Sora blocked with his keyblade before overpowering the small creature and striking it with his keyblade at its chest sending it into a tree. He had no time to celebrate as the other Heartless now also had a staff that it tried to hit Sora's back with, it didn't succeed as Sora dodged to the right before striking it in the head, dissolving it into dust.
The other Heartless surprised him as it hit him in the back sending him face first into the ground. It prepared for a finishing strike before Sora rolled onto his back, slashing it across its chest and killing it.
He got of the ground and started running in the general direction he'd seen Gantu ran off to, ignoring the calls for his name and the exhaustion that started growing painful for him, he had to stop the Heartless, he couldn't let this island end up like his, not now when he could help to save it.
After about five minutes of running like a maniac, he arrived to the scene of Gantu shooting Heartless with his plasma gun. The Heartless that he was fighting were mainly those with tiki masks and knight helmets, but Sora could also see a few heartless that were lizard like, they were about half of Sora's height, black with a curled tail and had that strange mark on their backs. Sora took out his keyblade and ran towards the mob of Heartless as Lilo and the others entered the clearing before Stitch ran after Sora into the crowd.
"I could understand Stitch wanting to stop Hämsterviel, but why Sora?" Lilo asked as she watched Stitch slash a knight with his claws.
"He doesn't want to stop Hämsterviel, he wants to stop the creatures he took with him" Jumba answered as Sora killed a lizard Heartless with his keyblade.
It was complete chaos, if you defeated one Heartless, two more seemed to take its place. No matter how much they slashed, stabbed, shot or stomped, they seemed to be in some sort of dead end where the enemies would never stop coming, and Sora was getting exhausted with all this fighting, and it seemed as the more of that dark fire he used, the faster his energy seemed to end, his thoughts were interrupted as one of the lizards hit him in the back with its whip-like tongue, leaving a hole on the back of his jacket. He was about to hit it with a dark flame before a plasma shot from Gantu incinerated it. Stitch was holding a tiki masked one by the feet before he threw it towards Sora who slashed it with his keyblade, killing it. The fighting went on for a few more minutes before all of a sudden the Heartless stopped dead in their tracks before they moved to create a hole in the formation that led from the space ships opening to them. Out of the space ship came a small, rabbit-like creature with a cape around its shoulders walking in a carefree pace.
"Hämsterviel" Both Gantu and Stitch growled out in anger.
"Ah, if it isn't my least favorite guests and their friend. No matter, I am not here for you" Hämsterviel said before a scream was heard from the edge of the clearing and as Sora looked over to the source, he saw Gantu being restrained by a black octopus like heartless with chains for tentacles, and Lilo beside him passed out.
"I am here for him" Hämsterviel said before he got up on a space ship like Heartless, the one restraining Jumba following before it took of.
"Lilo" Stitch yelled out in concern before the remaining Heartless disappeared and another, much bigger one, took their place.
The Heartless had a pudgy build body that was covered in midnight dark blue fur, four arms with four clawed fingers on each, legs that were like those of a rhino, short and muscular with arms to match, a pear shaped head with a metal jaw, hungry yellow eyes, three strands of hair standing up at the top of the head and the Heartless mark on its belly. To anyone else this would be any other Heartless, but Gantu recognized him, how couldn't he, he'd spent the last two years with him.
"625"
Heartless spaceshipThe inside of the spaceship was rather empty with nothing else than a few windows and the black and purple walls and floors and of course, the passengers, but other than that, empty. The room ship was completely silent, well, except for Jumba struggling against the octopus Heartless chain.
"You know, when you started study other worlds, I thought-well everyone thought you'd really turned insane, and when you moved onto darkness, I started get interested, yet I still paid it no mind. That is, until now" Hämsterviel said as he took a seat on the floor before Jumba shot him an ugly glare.
"Okay you little rat, what do you want?"
"Straight to the point huh? Fine, I want you to help me harness these Heartless, was that what you called them in your theories? Anyway, I want you to build a machine and help me harness their power for myself" He said with a chuckle at the end.
"And if I refuse?" Hämsterviel gained an evil smirk at the question.
"Then I will send Heartless after Heartless to that island and won't stop until I've taken out your whole `ohana´" He spat out the last word before he laughed maniacally.
Earth"You know this thing?" Sora asked between pants and wheezes before Gantu nodded.
"He didn't use to look like this, what happened? Wait, the creatures… they… they" For some reason, Gantu felt like crying. He may have been annoying, but he had still been close with the glutton, they had been friends, although none would admit it.
"Turned him into this?" Stitch growled out in anger, no one hurt his cousins, or turned them into monsters. Sora looked at the Heartless that apparently used to be someone they knew, but that would mean that he had killed real people.
'No, Jumba said they were the darkness in peoples hearts given life, but does that mean I kill their heart?' Gantu shouting at him to jump away interrupted his thoughts, and good thing he did because the giant had just smashed his hand were he stood.
'I have to think about this later' He thought as he too his battle stance.
The giant let out a roar as it took big but slow steps against its three opponents, Sora didn't hesitate to attack as he raised the keyblade over his head before striking the giant's belly only for the attack to bounce off and making the belly jiggle for a few seconds, Gantu then seemed to have regained his senses and rook out his gun and aimed it at the head.
"The damn thing has 625's fat belly, it's too full with fat to attack, try to aim at the head and back" He fired a plasma shot at the giant's head which seemed effective judging by the yelp of pain it let out. Stitch and Sora nodded, although the latter barely had enough energy to carry his own weight, but he would finish this and find Jumba, then rest. Sora and Stitch began to try and get behind the giant and attack the back as Gantu attacked the front, this however proved difficult as the giant stomped his foot down on the ground causing a slight shake of the ground but enough to make Gantu loose his balance and giving an opportunity to punch him in the gut sending him skidding a few feet. Sora managed to get in a hit on its back making it yelp out in pain before facing him and opening its jaws and started charging up a black and red fireball.
`That looks like mine´ Sora thought as he avoided the attack but still got hit by a few small rocks that were sent flying in the explosion. Stitch managed to get on to the top of its head and punched it with his super strong fist, it screamed out in pain as the punch connected but it kept banging its head so violently he fell off.
"Why couldn't he have fought like this when we were fighting you guys?" Gantu asked Stitch while he recharged his gun and Stitch got back on his legs.
"Did he ever fight?" Stitch asked as Gantu gained a face of realization making Stitch smile a goofy smile.
"A little help would be appreciated" Sora called out as he avoided a punch from the giant before casting a dark fire at its face. Gantu and Stitch nodded before jumping into action, Jumba managed to get in a few shots on it before he was whacked to the side like a punching bag, Stitch tried to lift the giant but was interrupted by it sending another fireball at him the difference being that it hit this time.
"STITCH" Sora called out in concern.
"I'm okay" Although he seemed to be a little dizzy. Sora tried to jump on its head but the constant fighting had taken its tall as the giant managed to send him into a tree causing him to scream out in pain, he managed to stand up but felt that he had broken a few ribs before he spit out some blood.
'I need more strength, if I can't defeat this thing, how can I save my friends?' He was sure of that wherever his friends were, there would be more things like these, and maybe even those who were stronger. He looked at his keyblade and got an idea, he focused some of the dark power in the keyblade and started running against the giant. The giant faced him before opening its jaw charging up a fireball, but he never got far with it before Sora threw his keyblade at its belly, as he threw it he felt an immense amount of fatigue hit him and he knew he put too much power into the keyblade, all he could do now was hope. The keyblade continued its course against the giant's belly and hit with a big flash of darkness making it scream in pain before it started to shake violently before exploding with a big boom, and out of that explosion, a single heart float to the sky.
"I did it" Sora managed to say before he finally let his exhaustion win over his will and he passed out.
Gantu walked over to him as Stitch walked over to Lilo and both of them picked up their respective target.
"I have a machine that will let him rest up and heal quicker, it will probably take a few hours but it's better than letting him rest for weeks and letting Hämsterviel get away" Gantu said as Stitch nodded with an `Ih´ before heading into the space ship. As they got in, Gantu walked over to a machine that was big enough to fit him in it, he got Sora out of his clothes (except for his underwear), put him on the stretcher that leaned against the wall and put a oxygen mask on him before closing the door and pressing a few buttons on the nearby computer making the machine put Sora in a bath of clear green liquid that covered his whole body.
"This is how I recovered from our fights" Gantu said as Stitch laughed sheepishly.
"Now all we do is wait"
In the outer parts of the SectorThe Heartless spaceship landed on the moon of an uninhabited planet called XY-98, the planet is of no importance for the moment, what is important right now is the moon, or rather the lab located on the moon, a lab previously owned by Jumba before the council took away his ownership of it.
"Sure brings back some memories" Hämsterviel said in a mock nostalgic tone as he walked towards the abandoned lab with Jumba following, although in chains, but still following.
"Yes, wasn't it from here council took me away after that you sold me out to them?"
"Ah, memories" Hämsterviel sighed as if he recalled one of his happiest memories, which it probably was.
The inside of the lab was mostly empty, except for the large amount of computers and test tubes in varying sizes. There were also blackboards with advanced formulas of varying subjects, but the most noticeable blackboard was the one that Hämsterviel walked up to, it was filled with writings and drawings that seem to have been placed over a long period of time during different moments, you could also see faint marks from things that been erased, Jumba's eyes widened as he saw what it was.
"I have to thank you for your research Jumba. If I hadn't found it and studied it, I wouldn't have found out how useful these things were" He said as he picked up a file of paper that was so old it'd turned yellow.
"And from what I've read in your files, you apparently have a machine that can transfer the darkness from one or several individuals heart to another" He started to walk around the room, picking up miscellaneous files and items as he did so.
"Yet, each experiment you tried with this machine failed" He stopped in front of a machine hidden by a large cloth before he gained an evil grin.
"And it just so happens I know why they failed. The specimens you used didn't have a high enough concentration of darkness, but these things do" He obviously indicated towards the Heartless.
"So, what do you want from me? I destroyed machine years ago" Hämsterviel's wicked grin returned to his face.
"Oh really? Then what's this?" He grabbed a hold of the cloth, pulled it down and revealed a large machine.
The machine was built like two metal cylinders on a metal rectangle, the cylinders had a metal pipe between them indicating that something was supposed to be transferred from one cylinder to the other, the cylinders themselves were plain metal with several wires on them in different colors, the metal plate thy were standing on had a computer between them for activation and surveillance of the process.
"Oh, that one" Jumba said as he got a sinking feeling in his gut.
"Yes, and you are going to help me start this machine, or else I'll may send a few Heartless to search for that Keyhole I read about in your files" Jumba was released from the chains with a snap of Hämsterviel's fingers, he knew it would be foolish to try and escape, so he grabbed his toolbox and started working on the machine. He would get it working alright, but not in the way Hämsterviel wanted.
Sora's dreamDarkness, that what was he saw, darkness as endless as the night sky without any stars shining upon it. As he walked he could hear the echo of his footsteps as they hit a floor that he couldn't see. There was no source of light, no life except for him, nothing except for the never-ending darkness.
"Embrace it" He heard a voice, no not a voice, it was more like he could feel the words, but he couldn't hear a voice to go with the words.
"Let it consume you. Use it, let your hate burn your heart, let your rage overflow it, let darkness consume it"
He was scared.
"Darkness"He wanted to run, yet he knew the words would follow him.
"Darkness"He wanted…
"DARKNESS"
HE wanted out.
There was a loud bang in Gantu's ship as Sora woke up a few hours after he'd been put in the machine, and as he woke up he let out a pulse of his dark power, destroying the machine he was in. He immediately noticed the soaked state his body and the surprised faces of Lilo, Stitch and Gantu.
"Sorry, was that thing important?" He asked with a sheepish laugh while scratching the back of his head.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Gantu shouted at the top of his lungs as he inspected the devastated state of his machine and as he faced Sora for some answers, he noticed that he seemed hesitant.
"I don't know, I've had it ever since… I arrived here, it's a weird power, and it feels dark and… unnatural, but at the same time it makes me feel stronger and… like it's what I need to use if I want to find my friends" He had a hunch about what the power was, and when he saw that giant Heartless use it and that dream had only confirmed his thoughts, but he didn't want to actually say, or even thin the word.
"So you're searching for your friends?" Lilo asked as she handed Sora his clothes, which had the holes patched up in a sloppy way but still better than it looking like Swiss cheese.
"Yeah, I don't care how long it's gonna take, but I'll find them"
"I'm also looking" Stitch said as he pointed at himself.
"Really, who are you looking for?"
"His cousins, and believe me, he has a lot of them" Lilo said with a soft giggle and Sora couldn't help but smile with her, but now wasn't the time for this.
"How do we find Jumba?" The seriousness in his voice was a strong contrast to the usual cheerfulness it held, but he wouldn't let someone disappear, not when he could help.
Lilo and Stitch remained silent as they looked over at Jumba hoping that he knew the answer. He sighed as he sat down on his oversized chair, hands massaging his temples as he started thinking.
"If he too Jumba, he probably wants him to make something, which means he took him to their old laboratory"
"Are you sure?" Lilo wanted to be sure of the location since she wanted to find Jumba as soon as possible. Gantu nodded as he got out of his chair.
"Positive, I can't find any other reason for him to take Jumba than making him build or create something" The worry that was showing on his face seemed very out of place for such a tough looking creature, but he had a good reason to be worried, whatever Hämsterviel wanted, it could not be good.
"Where is it?" For some reason Sora felt that it was very far away.
"In the outer parts of the sector, maybe twenty to thirty light years away"
"Light years?"
"Don't worry, we have a ship" Lilo said before she and Stitch ran out of the ship with Sora and Gantu following.
"That's. Freakin'. Huge" Sora gaped in awe as he looked up at the red spaceship that Lilo and Stitch had led him to.
"Can you really drive it?" He asked Lilo right before he took his first step into the ship.
"Nope" The panic on Sora's face was quite humorous, that was until he heard cries of excitement from the pilot booth.
"WOOHOOO"
"But Stitch can"
'They're going to let the koala drive?' For some reason Sora had a feeling that he would be motion-sick. He got into the ship and sat down on one of the many seats that the ship had, he then had to keep himself from laughing as he looked at Gantu trying to fit himself into one of the chairs. It eventually broke under his weight, and that was all Sora could handle before he burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" The underlying threat was obvious, but Sora just couldn't stop laughing. It felt good to laugh, he'd thought that he would never laugh again with all the things that'd happened in the span of two days (he'd earlier discovered he'd spent one night in that machine).
"Sorry, it's just feels like forever since I laughed, so you can't blame for laughing so much once I get the chance" From the pilot booth they heard Lilo call for Gantu so he could tell the location of the lab, Gantu got out of the rubble of the chair and mumbled something like `Stupid chairs, bratty kids´. As the door closed Sora was officially alone in the room, this allowed him to have a few moments to think and reflect on the resent events.
He opened his palm and looked on the pure black ball of energy that appeared in it. This power he had, he knew what it was, it was what everyone had in their hearts, it's what the Heartless were made out of and what they used from other living beings in order to create more Heartless, and for some reason he could control it.
"Darkness" The word left his voice in a tone that was barely a whisper since he didn't want anyone hear the world he himself could barely utter. Yes, for some reason he could control darkness, he didn't know how but he felt it had something to do with the keyblade.
'Fight fire with fire as they say' Indeed this was the ultimate proof of it, the keyblade was supposed to fight darkness, yet it granted him the power to control darkness. Then a look of horror crossed his face as he came to a realization. Maybe he didn't have the keyblade Jumba told him about, maybe the keyblade he have is one created by the Heartless in order to fight the Keyblade that was supposed to destroy them. If that was true, was he chosen by darkness? Chosen to fight for the Heartless and help them destroy the light? He held out his hand and made the keyblade appear in a dark flash. He looked at it with a mixture of anger and fear before coming to a decision. He would use the keyblade, but not for destroying the light, but to help it and save the worlds, but he would never, ever, use the power of darkness he'd gained.
"Prepare for liftoff" Stitch's sounded from the nearby speaker before the ship began to violently shake as Sora felt it move before it flew off the ground, through the atmosphere and into space.
'I hate when I'm right' Sora thought as his gut felt like it was doing back flips and he was literally feeling green.
"You want a bag?" Lilo asked with a paper bag in her hands.
"No thanks, I'm fine" His green face and weak voice was about as obvious as the lie. Lilo rolled his eyes at his show of bravado before noticing the keyblade in his hands.
"Where did you get that thing anyway?" She studied the keyblade with the curious eyes of a child, but now when she mentioned it, Sora didn't know where he'd gotten it, all he'd seen of the place were the yellow eyes of the Heartless and… a never-ending darkness.
"Not sure myself actually" He said as he gave it a practice swing accidentally slicing the chair in front of him in two.
"Don't tell any one I did that" He was obviously unaware of the fact that Stitch had destroyed the chairs uncountable times.
"If you let me hold it" She held out her hands towards the keyblade and Sora couldn't help but smile as he handed it to her knowing fully well what would happen. Lilo held the keyblade in her small hands and gave it a swing before it disappeared in a dark flash and reappeared in Sora's hand in the same fashion.
"Don't worry, it does that to everyone" he said in a playful voice as Lilo had a childish pout on her face.
Sora smile grew a little in amusement before he looked out of the window.
"Whoa" Was all he could say as he looked at the millions of light spots that were the stars, the tails of fire that they occasionally drove by that were asteroids and the few globes of rock they passed that were planets. Even though they were moving at an impossible speed he could see it all.
"Amazing isn't it? I get goose bumps no matter how many times I see it" Lilo said as she looked out of the window and all Sora could do was nod. After a few minutes of looking out of the window, Sora took his eyes away from it and got out of his chairs and stretched his arms with a few loud pops.
"How long 'til we get there?" As if on cue, he could feel the ship touch the ground with a slight shake.
"About now" She said with a slight giggle since Sora had lost his balance and landed on his ass.
"Thank you for flying with Stitch Airline, we hope that you'll kick Hämsterviel's ass during your visit" Stitch's said over the speaker before his laugh was heard all over the ship.
"Okay everyone, time to save Jumba" Gantu said, but right before he could touch the handle of the door.
"WAIT" Lilo's voice echoed through the spaceship before three pairs of eyes and ears had all their attention at her.
"Sora and I need space suits, so could you wait with opening the door" It was obviously more of an order than a question.
"There's no need for that, this moon is very unique in the way that it has it's own atmosphere and is filled with geysers that spew out oxygen gas instead of water" He opened the door, which gave of a low hissing sound. The sight they were greeted by was a rocky plain with no significant traits other than a few holes in the ground that probably were the geysers and the building that obviously was the laboratory.
"Lets go" Sora raised the keyblade over his head as cries of `Aye´ was uttered before they charged the laboratory.
The door was kicked down courtesy of Gantu, the door led to a wide corridor that was only a few feet long and had only one door at the end of it. Sora took a step forward and was immediately welcomed by a group of Heartless. The group was made out of quite a few tiki and lizard Heartless but also had a few of those small ones with antennas. Sora and Stitch charged at them as Gantu and Lilo instead took out a plasma gun each and started firing at the creatures. Sora managed to hit a tiki in the head and send it into a wall disintegrating it into dust, he then felt the claws of a small one scratch his leg, but before he could hit it, it had already sunken into the ground, fortunately Stitch cut it with his claws as it came out. A tiki appeared on his right, trying to hit him with its staff, but Sora managed to block it with his keyblade, allowing Stitch to cut the tiki with his claws. Lilo managed to hit one lizard, but failed to notice the small one rising from the ground behind here, just as it was about to scratch her with its claws it was disintegrated by Gantu's gun.
"Keep a better eye on your surroundings" He said before stomping on a lizard.
"I will" She managed to hit a tiki, making it loose its balance allowing Sora to hit it. Stitch managed to head-butt a small one, sending it flying into a tiki, Sora then managed to send a lizard flying into the same tiki, killing both Heartless.
"Lets go" They started running towards the door and Gantu once again kicked it down, the sight they were greeted by was not a very pleasant one. There was Hämsterviel, in some strange kind of machine that had a metal cylinder that he was standing in connected to three other cylinders, two of them looking newer than the one he was standing in, and the Heartless seemed to walk into those cylinders, disintegrating into dark dust, but the dust didn't disappear with the wind, but appeared to be transported by the pipes and absorbed by Hämsterviel.
"Where's Jumba?" Lilo cried out in concern, the next thing they heard were some kind of muffled sound , they turned their heads towards the corner of the room and immediately noticed the tied up and gagged Jumba.
"JUMBA" Stitch shouted before he ran over to him and ripped off the ropes and mouth gag.
"You okay?" Lilo asked, Jumba simply grunted and rubbed his head.
"Somewhat. He made me work on the machine all night" He answered and got up with another grunt.
"Ah, I see you found Humpty Dumpty. Unfortunately he can't help you now" Hämsterviel got out of the machine, his eyes glowing in a sickly shade of yellow and a dark aura surrounding him.
"Because my power is unequalled by any one of you" (Did I get that sentence right?) And there, right in front of their eyes, Hämsterviel's fur changed into midnight black, he grew so much that he was taller than Gantu by at least half a foot, his ears got longer and curved like new moons, his tail changed into one like that of a lizard's, his arms growing so long the knuckles touched the floor and on his chest a large, red, heart shaped form appeared that glowed with an unknown energy.
"He became a Heartless" Sora whispered out in horror, he could feel the malice and bloodlust radiating from it.
"Don't worry, he's unstable and incomplete" Jumba said as he stood on shaky feet.
"What do you mean" Gantu asked as Hämsterviel started laughing a mad and echoing laugh, revealing a mouth that looked more like a black hole filled with razor sharp teeth.
"I mean he's going to blow up. That's what happened to my other experiments and that's why I labeled them as failures"
"Well that's good"
"No, even my smallest experiment destroyed half of my laboratory when it exploded, so he will probably take out he whole moon. So I installed a weak point on him" He pointed towards the big, red heart on Hämsterviel's heart, it was about half as big as the chest making it an easy target.
"Why thanks for the info" Hämsterviel said in a voice that was as monstrous as his appearance.
"He talked" Sora was quite surprised, of all the Heartless he'd met; this one was the first to talk. Not that he'd met that many, still he thought that was a unanimous trait.
"Now that I know my weak point, I'll just have to defend it, and don't you dare think that I'll explode. Those Heartless you made were weak and fragile, I on the other hand is the closest thing to perfection these puny creatures can achieve" he then seemed to pull a piece of his body of him, before reforming it into four black, bird like Heartless that positioned themselves in front of his heart, as if they were protecting it.
"Guess we have to get through those things" Gantu said as he loaded his gun and Stitch put Jumba and Lilo in a safe place.
"Nooo, I wanna fight too" Her efforts, while many, were useless against Stitch's super strength.
"Lets kick his ass" Sora got into his stance as Gantu nodded.
Gantu fired a shot that was blocked by one of Hämsterviel's hands; Sora tried to run towards one of the birds but was smacked into the wall by Hämsterviel's other hand. He got up with a grunt of pain, bur fortunately nothing broken.
"Use it, embrace it" He shook his head trying to get rid of those voiceless words. He wouldn't give in no matter what. He charged at the birds once again, only to barely dodge a fist form above that Hämsterviel had tried and hit him with, so now he was back next to Gantu.
"Why aren't you using that weird power?" Gantu asked as he managed to hit one of the seagulls that gave out a pained cry but seemed fin otherwise.
"I won't use it" Gantu looked over at the kid as if he was crazy.
"Are you nuts? We need every advantage we can get in this fight"
"I won't use it"
'Dear god, as stubborn as the girl' Gantu thought with an irritated sigh.
"Fine. You try and attack those birds while I try and keep Hämsterviel from turning you into mashed potatoes" He put his gun in its holster and raised his fist.
Sora waited until Gantu was in front of him before he started running, Hämsterviel tried to crush him with his palm but was blocked by Gantu, who managed to not only block, but hold on to his fist making Hämsterviel unable t lift it.
"Let go off me you insect" He started to hit Gantu with his fist repeatedly, that was until he heard the sound of one of his guard-birds dying, he looked down at his chest and saw Sora with his keyblade raised preparing for another strike
"INSOLENT BRAT" He smacked Sora into the wall with the hand that wasn't held down by Gantu, he then formed a ball of dark energy in the same hand and shot it towards Gantu sending him into the same wall as Sora.
'Damn that hurt' Sora thought as he got up on shaky feet before spitting out some blood.
'I think I broke a rib' He winced in pain as his hand touched the broken rib.
"We need to finish this quickly" Gantu said as he stood up, he seemed to have handled the impact on the wall better than Sora. The same could not be said for the wall.
"YOU INSOLENT FOOLS, DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME. I AM PERFECTION, I AM-" He was interrupted by Stitch picking him up by the leg and throwing him to the wall opposite of Gantu and Sora.
"You took your sweet time" Gantu said in mild irritation, Stitch ignored the question and turned towards them with a serious expression.
"Thirty minutes"
"Huh?" Sora and Gantu said in synch.
"Thirty minutes before he explodes"
FlashbackStitch ran through the corridors of the laboratory, desperately searching for a place to hide Jumba and Lilo.
"Put me down" Lilo shouted from her position on Stitch's shoulders.
"Naga" Stitch said in respond. As he was carrying Lilo, he was also dragging Jumba behind him, which forced him to have his extra arms out.
"I can walk on my own now, 626" Stitch stopped running so Jumba could get up, he was still a little shaky, but seemed otherwise seemed fine.
"Let me take little girl. If this goes on for too long, Hämsterviel will explode and we'll all be killed" Stitch was didn't want to leave Lilo and Jumba alone, but he didn't want to leave Sora and Gantu to defeat Hämsterviel all by themselves.
"You only got about thirty minutes until Hämsterviel explodes, 626! No matter what he may say, his body is unstable and will explode! So leave Lilo to me and go help them" His tone and posture told Stitch that there was no room for argument, all he could do was nod, hand Lilo over to Jumba and go and help Sora and Gantu.
"Don't I have a say in this?"
"NO"
Flashback end
"Thirty minutes, huh?" Sora mumbled to himself before he looked over at Hämsterviel who'd gotten himself up from his position on the floor.
"DIDN'T I TELL YOU? I'M NOT ONE OF JUMBA'S PATHETIC EXPERIMENTS. I AM PERFECTION" As he stood at full height once again, Sora noticed that another one of Hämsterviel's birds were gone, leaving him with only two birds.
"Only two left" Stitch said as Gantu tried getting in a good shot on the heart, unfortunately all his shots were blocked by Hämsterviel.
"Guess we still have to get close" Stitch said and took our his extra pair of arms, his antennas and the feather like hair strands on his back, this freaked Sora out a little, but after all that he'd seen it wasn't that freaky.
"At least it's almost over" He responded before charging Hämsterviel.
Hämsterviel tried to crush them with his fists, but Gantu and Stitch; Sora then prepared to strike one of the birds but was lifted into the air by Hämsterviel's tail.
"Sora" Gantu and Stitch called out, letting go of Hämsterviel's hands. That was a big mistake since Hämsterviel grabbed Gantu by his head and grabbed a hold of Stitch who was small enough to fit in his hand.
"I am going to kill you three slowly, and I'm starting with you brat. It will be so much more fun to save 626 for last" He had a sick and sadistic smile on his face that just seemed monstrous on his new face. He then proceeded to slowly crush Sora with his tail and Sora couldn't help but let out a cry of pain.
"Use it" Damn it, the words were back, but they seemed to be shouting at him this time, as if they were not only shouting for him to use the darkness for his own survival, but theirs as well.
"Use it, it's the only way" Even though Sora couldn't hear a voice, he could feel the panic that the words seemed to hold, and as the tail's grip got tighter, he knew he didn't have any other choice then to obey.
He started to charge up a blast of darkness inside of him while trying to imagine what had happened when he woke up from Gantu's healing machine.
'Here goes' He could literally feel the darkness explode as he released the charged up power. It was enough to blow a big chunk of Hämsterviel's tail, but it also made him drop Gantu and Stitch, who were sent skidding a few feet because of the shock wave and leave Sora near exhaustion and his jacket was nothing more than a rag hanging on some threads.
'That was worse than being choked by that tail' He could feel his body screaming in pain just from standing up, and he had trouble remaining conscious. If the fight didn't end soon, it would be over. Luckily, the explosion seemed to have killed the third of Hämsterviel's birds leaving only one.
"YOU WILL PAY, INSECT! I AM GOING TO BLOW YOU INTO OBLIVION" Making him mad seemed to have been a big mistake since the big ball of darkness he started charging up looked quite powerful. Hämsterviel stretched out his arm, palm facing Sora, Gantu and Stitch.
"Shit. Jump away he's gonna fire it" Sora shouted, but to get out of range of the ball of darkness wouldn't be easy since it may cause a big explosion, but it was the only option they had. As the ball got closer and closer to impacting into the floor, Sora began to panic since a wall was in the way of getting him anywhere and where he was right now wasn't that far away from the ball, plus if he tried to move in another direction he would either meet the ball, another wall or Hämsterviel, so either way he was screwed.
"Use it, allow it to protect you" Okay this was beginning to get really annoying, the words just wouldn't leave him alone.
"Don't you need to survive? Are you really going o risk your life before you've even seen your friends?" Sora wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that the words just had a voice that sounded like… his, but darker, and with a more menacing feeling to it. He didn't want to listen to it, but he felt like there really was no other choice then to listen to it. He held out his hand, palm facing outwards as he began to search for his dark power. As he found it he managed to get it out, but this time he tried to shape it into some kind of shield, and he had to hurry since the ball was about to impact with the ground and cause the explosion that most likely would happen. After a few seconds of trying, Sora managed to shape the darkness into a black dome that completely surrounded him. The dome was midnight black with some white dots on it that made it resemble a starry night sky.
As the dome hit the ground it did explode as anticipated, what wasn't anticipated was how big it would be. Even though Sora had trouble seeing it he was sure it must have blown a big part of the lab to pieces by the sound of it and the shockwave he felt through his shield, which he was having trouble to keep up. After what felt like forever, the explosion stopped.
'Thank god. I don't know much longer I could've kept that up' Sora thought as he dropped the shield and truly felt how little power he had left, as he cancelled the shield he got a good look at the laboratory, which looked much like expected.
'It's like a hurricane swept by' It was the best explanation he could give. The wall which the ball had impacted on looked like it was hit by a big ball of fire instead of one of darkness, the wall was practically non-existing and the little bit that remained had been turned to charcoal. The rest of the lab wasn't in any better shape, the surrounding walls had been shattered into a million black burnt pieces, pieces of what used to be machines and equipment lad scattered all across the floor and even a master of puzzles would probably be unable to put them back together. Yet the strangest was that Hämsterviel was nowhere to be seen. Not that Sora complained about it, he was much more focused on finding Gantu and Stitch.
"GANTU! STITCH!"
"Over here" Sora looked at the direction of where the south wall used to be and saw Gantu climb up from under a pile of rubble. He looked fine except for some bruises and his clothes that were torn in more places than Sora could count.
"Where's Stitch?"
"If I know that blue pest, he should be somewhere under all this rubble, and probably with a slight bruise mark" And as if responding to Gantu, a pile of rubble started shaking before Stitch jumped out of it, he looked okay except for a very low amount of bruises and a tired look on his face.
"I'm okay. I'm fluffy" He said with a big and tired smile on his face.
Sora returned the smile with a smile of his own and couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Where's Hämsterviel?" Gantu said as he dusted some dirt of what was left of his clothes. Indeed, as they looked around the lab they saw absolutely no trace of the mad rabbit/hamster monster.
"Maybe he blew himself up" Sora couldn't help but sound hopeful, if Hämsterviel had survived somehow he doubted he would be able to fight him when he was having trouble staying awake. His hopes were shattered when a big dark hole appeared a few feet in front of them and two giant and awfully familiar arms appeared out of it and began to push the rest of the body out of the hole.
"Oh no" They all said at the same time as Hämsterviel's whole body now was out of the hole.
"Damn cockroaches, can't you just die?" He still had the last bird guarding his heart so the fight was still on.
"Ten minutes 'til he explodes" Stitch said cracking all of his four fists.
"I have two charges of plasma left. 626, you distract Hämsterviel by throwing heavy objects on him while I'll try and get in a shot at the damned bird" Stitch seemed happy about the plan Gantu had formed.
"What will I do?"
"You try and get a shot at the heart once the bird is dead" He took out his gun (which somehow had remained unscratched through all of this) and pointed it towards Hämsterviel, while Stitch picked up two big parts of rubble and Sora got into his stance.
Gantu fired a shot at the same time as Stitch threw the bigger of the pieces of rubble. Hämsterviel managed to crush the rubble Stitch threw at him and block Gantu's shot, but he failed to block the second piece of rubble that Stitch had thrown. The piece of rubble hit Hämsterviel's head making him let out a slight growl of pain.
"YOU PIECE OF GENETIC CRAP, I WILL SMASH YOU INTO A PANCAKE" He raised both of his fists over his head, completely forgetting about Gantu and Sora. This was the biggest mistake he could've made.
"THIS IS FOR 625" Gantu shouted as he fired a shot against the last bird resulting in the bird being incinerated, leaving Hämsterviel's heart defenseless.
"Now Sora" Gantu shouted as Sora put all of his energy into his legs as he started running.
"YOU THINK I'LL GO DOWN THAT EASILY? THINK AGAIN" He switched his concentration from Stitch to Sora and was about to crush him with his fist.
Time seemed to slow down for Sora as he saw Hämsterviel's come closer towards him. Then the memory of his fight against 625's Heartless appeared in his mind and how he had charged the keyblade with darkness before he had thrown it.
'Maybe I can do that now, but without throwing it' It was an idea; it was either do or die anyway. He charged the keyblade with the last of his darkness before swinging his sword against Hämsterviel's hands, as he swung it he saw that the keyblade left a trail of darkness after it, probably because of the darkness he'd charged it with. As the keyblade connected with Hämsterviel's hands, Sora felt a slight resistant before the keyblade cut through Hämsterviel's hands making him howl out in pain.
"TAKE THIS" Sora cried out as he stabbed Hämsterviel in the heart with his keyblade. The keyblade went deep, all the way down to the guard and was probably sticking through Hämsterviel's back. A choked sound escaped Hämsterviel's lips before he disintegrated into dust that was spread by a non-existing wind, and a giant heart floated into the sky.
"We… did… it" He managed to say between pants before he collapsed out of exhaustion.
"So it's finally over, huh?" Gantu asked no one in particular as he picked Sora up in his arms.
"Ih" Stitch said as he looked at the place where Hämsterviel had stood just a few seconds ago. They turned around and started walking towards the spaceship, neither mourning nor feeling regret about Hämsterviel, because all the way into the end he had been an enemy, a heartless enemy.
The next dayEverything was sore, his legs, his arms, and hell, even his head felt sore for some reason. This was how Sora felt when he woke up in the welcoming comfort of a bed and some kind of round room, wearing an oversized Hawaii-shirt. The room was round instead of square as most rooms with the walls and floor being made of metal, two beds and two window. Sora couldn't see a door, but he did see a hole in the floor. He walked over to the hole to look into it, when Jumba suddenly appeared out of it on some kind of platform.
"I see you're finally awake" He had a playful yet relieved tone in his voice.
"Where am I?" He had a good feeling about where he was he just wanted conformation.
"Earth, or little girl an 626's bedroom to be more precise" Sora let out a sigh of relief.
"Come on, let's get your clothes and some lunch" Sora was quite surprised to hear that it was lunch time, but he wouldn't complain, he was hungry.
Apparently Lilo has a sister named Nani, Sora did not know that. How did he know that now you ask? Well, she was in the middle of yelling at him for putting himself and Lilo in danger by trying to fight Hämsterviel and his monsters.
"JUST BECAUSE I'M OUT OF TOWN DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT" Her yelling was now focused on Lilo, and even though Sora shouldn't feel grateful for it, he did.
"AND WHAT THE HELL IS GANTU DOING OUTSIDE? AND WHY DID STITCH JUST GIVE HIM A SANDWICH?" Sora looked outside the window, and there was Gantu clear as day eating an oversized sandwich.
"Now, now big girl this is not the time to be angry" Jumba said with Lilo, Sora and Stitch nodding in agreement.
"Now when Hämsterviel is gone for good we should celebrate, not yell at little girl, 626 and Sora" Nani looked skeptical for a moment before she let out a sigh in defeat.
"I guess you're right. Okay, we'll celebrate tonight, but right now I think we need some lunch and Sora needs clothes" Nani said before walking into the kitchen.
"Your sister is scary" Sora said but also felt that the main reason that she practically bitten their heads of was because she cared.
"She can be like that sometimes but she's nice most of the time" Lilo said as she looked in the general direction of the kitchen.
The atmosphere was much more relaxed and welcoming now that there was no one who needed to be saved and Sora found himself laughing and talking more than he had since he got here, but the thought of his friends may be in danger out there made him realize that he couldn't stay for long. He had just eaten his lunch and gotten his clothes back (which was so patched up he had barely recognized them), before Jumba dragged him away from the house the second he'd left the table.
"What is it now, more Heartless?" His keyblade flashed into existence as he prepared himself for an attack.
"No nothing like that, just something you must to do before you leave" His voice and face was far more serious than usual indicating that wherever he was taking Sora it was important. They stopped in front of a lake surrounded by tiki statues and with a small waterfall, it was a very beautiful place with exotic plants in all sorts of colors and the sound of streaming water added a sort of calming effect.
"What did you take me here for?" As the word left Sora's mouth, the tip of the keyblade started glowing in with darkness and the lake seemed to respond as a rock started rising from the water. The rock was probably as big as Gantu with corals in all the colors of the rainbow growing on it, but the most striking feature of it was that it had a keyhole the size of a medicine ball on it.
"What is that?"
"That is the keyhole of this world, I started looking for it as soon as I started living here and found it about six months ago" Jumba said as he looked at the rock with a look in his eyes that were those of a wise old man.
"As soon as I got here I felt that this place was close to the heart of the world"
"But what am I supposed to do?"
"That is up to you. You can either open the keyhole and destroy this world, or you can close it and save it"
'So this is a keyhole' Sora took a moment to study it, he could feel the power and energy that was radiating from it and the choice between opening and closing it was obvious to him.
"No, open it. Think about the power the heart of this world contains, think about what you could do with it" The words didn't seem to be just words that Sora could feel any longer, but a voice that seemed to be his own but darker in some way. He shook his head to get rid of the voice and pointed the keyblade at the keyhole.'Lock' It seemed that all he needed to do was think the word since the tip of the keyblade started glowing in darkness before it send a ray of darkness into the keyhole that disappeared with the sound of a door being locked. Both of them just stood there in complete silence waiting for the other to start a conversation.
"What now?" Sora asked as the keyblade disappeared to wherever it goes when he doesn't have it.
"You can do whatever you want, but I think Lilo would like if you stayed for the celebration" Jumba said before he walked away and left Sora to his own thoughts. Sora stood there for a few seconds before he walked away in the same direction Jumba had taken.
Unknown locationSix individuals were gathered in a dark room whose only source of light was the table that had a projection of Sora on it, they seemed to be quite upset about something, probably that some kid just hindered them from destroying a world.
"Seems like the brat found a keyhole" The first individual said with an hint of amusement.
"Should actions be taken?" The voice was emotionless and mechanical, the only hint of emotion it had was the underlying sadism in it.
"Give him to me, I bet I can smash him up real good" The voice was arrogant and held far more amusement than it should.
"You? Smash him? Don't make me laugh" The voice was snobby and arrogant.
"Give the little darling to me, I'll make sure he gets treated as he deserves" The voice was like that of a grandmothers, although it didn't hold the typical old-lady-kindness, no what this voice held was the feeling of an evil-witch. (Like my aunt, she is not a nice person)
"Silence" This voice was different from the others, it was sophisticated, calm, and intelligent and held more evil than any individual in the room.
"He may be the key bearer, but he's also a user of darkness. All we need to do is wait and see if he will tame his darkness, or let his darkness consume him" Her face was finally revealed in the glow of the table. Her face may have been beautiful once in her life, but now it was a sickly green color with horns on top of her head and an aura of complete evil and darkness.
"Whatever you say, Maleficent-sama"
Paradise IslandThe celebration party that they had was not a very big one but it was nonetheless enjoyable. The food at the party was mostly snacks and sandwiches (although in big quantity since Gantu had an appetite that fit his size), they also played a few games, some that Sora never heard of but still found to be entertaining. Right now it was night and they were just sitting around a fire outside Lilo's house, enjoying the calm atmosphere that seemed to have been around since the start of the party.
"What are you going to do now?" Lilo asked Sora.
"I'm going to go and look for my friends. Although I'm not sure how to get out of here" Sora said as he looked into the fire while Nani gave him a confused look, Jumba may have told her about what happened to Hämsterviel, what she did not know however was that Jumba had left out some information, like where Sora and the Heartless were from.
"I think you do know, Sora" Jumba said in a knowing voice.
"Why do you think that?"
"Don't you remember how you got here?" Sora simply sat there in silence as he closed his eyes and tried to remember his visit to the dark place, even though it happened just a few das ago it felt lie I had been years ago.
FlashbackAs he grabbed the key he could feel a power awaken inside of him that seemed dark yet it felt like it was just what he needed to find his friends. He acted on instinct; he stretched out his hand with his palm forward as if he was trying to grab something. He felt the power inside of him move towards his arm and then out of it, he watched in fascination, as the power seemed to rip a hole open in the air itself that was big enough for him to go through.
'Here goes' He thought as he stepped into the dark hole before it closed behind his back.
Flashback endSora looked at his hand as the memory returned to him.
'Seems like I have to use it once more' He closed his hand into a fist, he didn't like using the darkness inside of him, it felt wrong somehow.
"If you're leaving, can you do it tomorrow?" Sora looked over at Lilo, she didn't seem to want him to leave, but he couldn't put this off any longer.
"Sorry, I think it's best if I leave now" He got up from his seat on the ground and was about to open a dark portal.
"Wait" Lilo said as she reached into her pocket and took out a key-chain. The key-chain had a chain that was painted in a way that made it look like it was made out of wood with a pendant that resembled a tiki statue.
"For your key" Lilo said as Sora took it before looking at it with a smile.
"Thanks Lilo" Since he didn't know what kind of effects the new key-chain would have he simply put it on his crown chain. After a few tests to confirm that it wouldn't fall off, he opened a dark tunnel.
"Hope we meet again" He said to his newfound friends.
"You too" They all said with a wave of their hands before Sora stepped into the portal that closed itself the minute he'd stepped into it.
"So, was he some weird alien or something?" They couldn't help but laugh at Nani's question.
Unknown worldThe second Sora stepped out of the portal he knew he'd done something wrong. Now how did he figure that out? Well, that he began to fell into the ocean helped pretty much.
"And here I though that storks came with children were only a fairy tale" Sora looked in the general direction that he'd heard the voice from and was surprised to see a man on a raft. The man was suntanned, tall and dressed in a white long sleeved shirt, a brown west that was kept closed by some white cloth, gray pants and booths. His face was adorned with a goatee tied in two braids and his hair was kept from his face by a red bandana and a three pointed sailors hat.
"Although you look a little too big to be carried by a stork. Them again, maybe that's why it dropped ya" He laughed at his own joke and didn't seem to notice Sora getting on the raft.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, who said you were allowed on my raft"
"Hey, I aint planning on floating in the ocean. So you will be so kind and let me stay here 'til this raft takes us to the closest piece of dry land" Sora knew that he'd probably just made his chances of staying on the raft lower, but he wouldn't let some random guy insult him.
"Kids and their attitude these days" The man played insulted but didn't seem to have a problem with Sora being on the raft.
"I'm Sora by the way" He didn't know how long he would be on the raft so he thought the stranger should at least know his name.
"Captain Jack Sparrow"
Author's notes: This is probably the longest text I've ever written, but I just didn't want to stop anywhere and don't expect every chapter to be this long, the chapter's length will vary greatly but I plan to make each visit to a world about two to three chapters long. And that's it for me, criticism is always welcomed and so is encouragement but please keep the reviews somewhere over five words.